Springfield's 375th: City monuments honor those who answered the call of duty

Memorial Day weekend is a fitting time to wrap up our fourth special section on the 375th anniversary of Springfield, a community that has a long history of honoring those who served and died for their country.

The actual memorials, and there are many of them, are such a part of the everyday landscape most people don’t even notice them. The biggest, at 1551-feet long and 82.5-feet wide, is the beautiful Memorial Bridge spanning the Connecticut River. Conceived during World War I, construction began in 1920 and it was opened to traffic in August of 1922.

The four large towers that are topped by a lighted globe each have a large bronze plaque at their base to memorialize those who fought and died since the inception of the settlement in 1636, up to World War I. When the bridge was reconstructed in 1996, a fifth plaque was added to honor members of the military from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, “and other conflicts around the world.”

The pillar on the west end of the north side of the bridge commemorates the sacrifices of the early settlers, those who died in the 1675 King Philip’s War, and the various French and Indian Wars that lasted until 1763. The other tower on that side recognizes those who fought in the Revolution and Shay’s Rebellion.

On the south side of the bridge is a tablet entitled “War to preserve the Union.” It honors the Civil War Regiments of the 10th, 27th, 31st, 34th, 37th, 46th, 52nd, and 57th. It makes special note of the fact the those who fought against each other in the Civil War fought side-by-side in Cuba in 1898.

The tablet closest to Springfield on the south side of the bridge memorializes both the Spanish American War and World War I. This final plaque, in the sequence of four, ends with the sentence... “From the pioneers down though to the World War love of freedom linked the generations.”

Other monuments are scattered throughout the city, in cemeteries, some in neighborhoods others in parks and triangles, and some along the streets. One is on the site of a former golf course, now Memorial Industrial Park off Roosevelt Avenue.

On the corner of Mill and Main Streets is a granite stone with a bronze plaque dedicated to Lt. Thomas Cooper and Constable Thomas Miller who “were killed by the Indians just prior to the burning of Springfield, October 5, 1675.” It doesn’t mention that Miller was killed on the spot but despite being shot Cooper managed to ride to the settlement and deliver the alarm before he died. Only one other citizen was killed as the rest fled to fortified houses.

There are only two markers that commemorate the Revolution, a stone and tablet at Court Square recognizing the site of Parson’s Tavern where Gen. George Washington was met on his way to take command of the Continental Army in Boston. Up on State Street, across from High School of Commerce, is a marker that was erect ed in 1927 to commemorate an early and crucial event at the start of the war. It reads:

“Through this place passed General Henry Knox in the winter of 1775-1776 to deliver to General George Washington at Cambridge the train of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga used to force the British Army to evacuate Boston.”

That date was March 17, 1776, forever to be known as “Evacuation Day,” presently a much disputed state workers’ holiday.

Farther east on State Street are two boulders marking the 1787 failed attempt by Daniel Shays and his band of disgruntled veterans to capture the federal arsenal.

The Civil War spawned the very notion of Memorial Day, which was first celebrated on May 30, 1868 after General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, issued an order calling for the nationwide remembrance. The great majority of memorials in Springfield our dedicated to those who were among the 620,000 soldiers and sailors who died on both sides from 1861 to 1865.

The largest Civil War monument towers into the trees at Court Square. On the obelisk that is topped by a life-size soldier with musket, are engraved the battles in which Springfield men fought from Antietam to Gettysburg. It states that 2,485 soldiers and sailors were “furnished by Springfield” in the War of the Rebellion.

On a hill in Oak Grove Cemetery off Bay Street is an area dominated by a stone soldier with a sword by his side and cased colors. On all sides of the monument are gravestones dating back to the Civil War and others that commemorate veterans up to the Vietnam War. All are adorned with flags. Another monument to the Civil War guards the beautiful grounds of Springfield Cemetery.

A unique Civil War monument graces St. Michael’s Cemetery where many of the Irish soldiers are buried. It is a huge black 1862 mortar with a plaque that reads “Honor the Brave.” It is dedicated to those “who offered their lives for the honor and integrity of the nation.” Words that still resonate 150 years later.

Most people are familiar with Memorial Square in Springfield, but few understand just what it is memorializing. The triangle where Main and Plainfield streets merge in the city’s North End is home to the Spanish American War monument., that of a marching soldier with rifle over his shoulder. He memorializes a war in which 25 Springfield men died.

Another city park that is a memorial to war heroes is Apremont Triangle at Pearl and Chestnut streets. A small plaque on a stone and a flagpole are the principle features of this monument to World War I, but it’s name and history began in Europe in 1918. The 104th Infantry, which had many local soldiers, became the first military organization in American history to receive a decoration from a foreign government when it was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palms by the French on April 28, 1918 for bravery in the Battle of Apremont.

The greatest concentration of monuments are located at Court Square, directly across from City Hall. One stone is dedicated to “all Springfield veterans who served their country” in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. There is another Korean War memorial a few yards away with an engraved map of Korea and the words : “Freedom is not free.” It goes on to list the 36,940 killed, 92,100 wounded, 8,176 missing in action and 7,140 POWs.

There is a separate monument dedicated “To all Marines” that marks the 200th anniversary of the Marines, 1775-1975. Further down the Court Street walk are three granite stones that form a memorial to Vietnam 1964-1975, which lists the Springfield residents killed in that conflict.

One of the most unique monuments is a memorial to President William McKinley, the assassinated commander-in-chief. It is located across from Symphony Hall behind Old First Church. It was placed in Forest Park in 1905, moved behind City Hall in 1928, moved back to Forest Park in 1966, and finally moved to its present location in 1997. What a way to treat a martyr.

Neighborhoods and ethnic veterans associations also placed monuments to honor their veterans. At Main and Locust streets in the South End is the statue of Christopher Columbus flanked by flags and inscribed with names from the neighborhood. In the park at Mason Square are three closely aligned monuments, one dedicated to World War II, another to African American soldiers killed in Vietnam, and another to Korean vets. Pine Point, Six Corners and Indian Orchard have monuments to the neighborhood boys who went off to fight in World War II.

In the foyer of City Hall is a bronze tablet that reads:

“In gratitude from the citizens of Springfield to M/Sgt. “Mike” Arooth. The city’s most decorated veteran.

It goes on to list that he downed 17 enemy aircraft in 14 missions and listed his medals and the fact he was “an active pallbearer at the services of the Unknown Soldier World War II, May 30, 1958.”

This Memorial Day tour of how a city has honored its war heroes will forever be incomplete as long as there are wars and hometown men and women to fight them.